Now That I See You
by SarahLeighGoodwin
Summary: Soulmate AU. Eugene had a hard time believing colors were real. It was not until he met a certain princess that he began to believe in them
1. Chapter 1

Eugene Fitzherbert would never forget the day he saw color.

He was barely eight years old when the news of the princess's birth swept through the kingdom. It was all anyone could talk about and understandably so.

The queen becoming ill had been the topic of conversation for nearly a month as people braced themselves for the worst. Both men and woman argued about whether the King would remarry and- if he did- then who would he marry or- if he did not remarry- who would take the throne when he died?

Some of the more twisted citizens of Corona began to make bets on when the queen would pass and then who would take the throne. Eugene was instructed to stay as far away from "those sleezebags" as possible.

Nonetheless, when the announcement came that the Princess had been born and that the queen was healthy, the kingdom rejoiced. Eugene could remember the ladies at the orphanage knitting socks to send to the palace and those same ladies making all of the orphans write congratulation cards to the king and queen. Eugene thought that that was stupid because they were rich and that they would not really care about some poorly written card from some orphan, but he did it anyways.

As he and the orphans sat there writing cards, the ladies had put what he was told were sticks of color to draw a picture with. He had had to stop himself from laughing. Sometimes the women there could be so dense. None of the orphans could see color, none of them had met their soulmates.

 _I probably don't even have a soulmate_ , Eugene thought bitterly to himself. _Colors may not even be real._

He had spent the last few years of his life trying to convince himself that colors were not real, that it was a story overly romantic adults had made up to tell kids before they went to bed. But Eugene was not stupid, he knew it was just a story.

And sense it was just a story, he would never be disappointed that he never saw color.

Of course, when the other kids pretended to see colors Eugene could not help but feel a little jealous. He wanted to be optimistic enough to play pretend with them, but he could never convince himself to do so.

Colors. Were. Not. Real.

And to him they were not…until the day the king and queen sent a lantern into the sky.

It was a day of celebration that the kingdom happily took part in. Not only were they getting a day of fun and festivity, but they were all going to get to see the new princess. Eugene had been told to put on his church clothes that day because the king and queen had invited the orphanage to a private lunch at the palace as a thank you for the sweet cards they had all made.

The palace was a grand place with high ceilings and polished floors and paintings that were so tall that Eugene had to stand all the way against the other wall to see the full painting. He had a hard time believing that the monarchy actually lived like this. It was too lavish for Eugene to even fathom. The dining hall was bigger than the entire orphanage! That was not really saying much though. The orphanage was a small two story house with three bedrooms. Divide those bedrooms up between twenty kids and four care takers and you do not have a lot of room.

Needless to say, Eugene had found the large castle extremely disorienting, so he was not surprised when he ended up in a room that no one he knew was in. In the room was a painter sketching out who Eugene assumed was the royal family. He was not sure though, he had never seen them in person.

"What do you think?" The painted asked, his eyes not moving from the painting.

Eugene looked around to see who the man had been talking to but he found no one was there.

"I'm talking to you, young man."

"Oh," Eugene mumbled in surprise. "I…I think it's nice."

"Hmmm," the man responded. "It will probably look better once I begin to add color. I am just having issues creating a green that is close enough to the queen and the princess's eye color." He reached onto a side table and grabbed a pallet full of seemingly gray blobs that Eugene was going to assume was different shades of green.

"I like this one," the painted pointed. "But I do not think it is accurate. This one over here is a little closer, but I feel like it resembles more grass than anything. What do you think?"

Eugene stood there, numb. Not only had he never seen the royals in real life but he could not see in color. Also, colors were not real. Did this painter really think he could fool Eugene?

Seeing Eugene's confusion, the painter put down the pallet and nodded. "You're still colorblind," he stated.

"Colors aren't real," Eugene returned, mildly irritated.

"I used to think the same thing," another voice said.

The two of them turned around to see the king standing in the doorway. The painter immediately stood and bowed and Eugene followed suit.

"No need," the king chuckled as he walked towards Eugene. "I didn't see in color until I met my wife when I was twenty. Two decades without color!" He kneeled down to look Eugene in the eye. "I can only pray that you get to see color at a younger age."

"I'm sure he will," a feminine voice interrupted. "He's a cutie, he will not have a hard time finding a soulmate."

The king smiled a brilliant smile and turned to his wife who was holding the princess in her arms. "There are my girls," the king welcomed. He kissed his wife before taking his daughter from her mother, holding her to his shoulder.

That is when the world shook for Eugene. One look at the princess's face and the world exploded with color. Everywhere he looked there were shades of…well he did not know what to call any of it. All he knew is that in the room was more than the three colors he had seen all his life. It was disorienting, his head was spinning, his knees almost gave out from beneath him, he could not catch his breath. The only thing keeping him from losing his mind was the princess's eyes.

Green. Her eyes were green.

 _Colors are real_.

As Eugene struggled with his bearings, the king and queen were talking to the painter, complimenting his work while the tiny princess continued to stare at Eugene and Eugene could not take his eyes off of her. She…she made him see color. But that could not be true.

A baby could not be his soulmate.

Even worse, a _princess_ could not be his soulmate.

He was an orphan. Orphans do not marry princesses.

The princess was laughing, joyous, pure laughter and a feeling of warmth spread that Eugene had never felt before spread through his chest.

"Rapunzel is especially giddy today," the queen laughed.

"She must like the drawing," the painted chuckled to himself.

"Maybe she'll be an artist," the king added jokingly. "We should really get going though. Lots to do before tonight." He looked at Eugene. "You're with the orphanage, correct?"

Eugene- still dazed- could only nod.

"I'll have a guard take you where you need to go," the king assured as he motioned to a guard at the door. "I hope you enjoy the castle." And with that the family left.

Eugene could only stare as they walked away.

"Well, I better get back to work," the painter said. "I have to figure this green out."

Eugene turned to look at the pallet again and his jaw nearly dropped at seeing the different colors…but they were all the same color? Colors did not make sense.

"Add…um…that one"- he pointed to a darker green- "to this one," he instructed as he pointed a light shade. "That should be the exact color."

The painter did as instructed and Eugene had been right. Perfect. Just like the princess's eyes.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this soo- how did you know that?!"

Eugene shook his head. "I have to go."

Before the artist could even protest Eugene was out of the room and following the guard back to the dining hall where everyone else was.

He kept his eyes on the floor, which was all the same color. He could not bring himself to look at the rest of the hall. It was all too much to take in. The colors were too much for him.

But- he realized- he already had a favorite color.

Green.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is a little bit shorter, but this will rap up the "prologue" section of the story. The next chapter will begin where the plot of the movie starts so things will get a little more interesting. Some of the chapters will be exactly like the movie, while other parts will be a little tweaked to fit the _colors_ prompt that the story is based on. Anyways, thank you to everyone who has read, favorited, followed, and reviewed. Be sure to leave a review telling me what you like, what you don't like, and what you think will happen next.**

 **To all my American readers, Happy Thanksgiving!**

 **Blessings to you all,**

 **S.F.**

* * *

Gothel had always been concerned as to why Rapunzel could see color.

The little girl had only been a few weeks old when she had been taken to the tower and- therefore- had not crossed paths with many people. There was no way she could have ever met her soulmate at that age. No way. But how could she see color then?

Maybe she did not see color, Gothel was trying to convince herself. It was a known fact that Rapunzel had an overactive imagination so maybe she just imagined what colors looked like. Granted, Gothel had never explained what colors were to Rapunzel because- given the fact that Rapunzel was never going to leave the tower- there was zero reason to fill her head with the ideas of soulmates and colors. Rapunzel was far too curious to be told about all of these things and then _not_ do everything she could to know everything about colors and soulmates.

Additionally, Gothel had only seen colors once and that was for a very short time. So short in fact that she sometimes questioned whether it had actually happened. Not that she thought about that often. She was too busy trying to keep Rapunzel in check to think about what either of them could see.

As long as Rapunzel never knew about colors, Gothel would have nothing to worry about.

And yet…she wanted to know if Rapunzel really _could see_ them.

Her proof of this was based on the girl's passion for painting. The first time she exhibited a love for painting was when she was three, when Gothel had found the girl finger painting with the juice some smashed grapes. When Rapunzel continued to do this with more food substances, Gothel decided to just go and buy the girl paint.

From Gothel's experience, colorblind people never bothered with art because very few things looked great as black and white. There was also the insecurity of whether or not the art they created looked good.

The few times that Rapunzel had asked for Gothel's opinion on a piece of art, Gothel could only smile and nod, maybe even add a "It looks good dear". She had had to learn how to change the subject when Rapunzel would ask what Gothel thought would look better.

"Would it look better if I used this," she would point to the paint on her brush, "or this," she asked as she showed the paint in her box.

Both looked the same to Gothel. She really could not tell the difference, which is why she wondered if Rapunzel could see a difference and if she did see a difference then how on earth could the girl see color?!

Maybe it had something to do with the magic hair? Maybe the flower had given Rapunzel the ability to see color.

 _If the flower gave her healing powers, it could give her color_ , Gothel would think to herself.

There was also the possibility that maybe someone had snuck into the tower…

 _No_ , Gothel assured herself. _There is no way that could have happened. Rapunzel cannot keep a secret, she would have told me._

No matter, Gothel had made a deal with herself: she would allow Rapunzel to keep painting but would never tell her about color. As long as Rapunzel remained happy in the tower, Gothel would never have to worry about Rapunzel leaving and finding out what had been keeping from her.

After all, she needed her flower in order to stay young forever and what Rapunzel did not know would not kill her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **Whats up ? It has been way too long and I wish I could it will never happen again but I am a very busy college student whose major has nothing to do with writing. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter. If you like it, leave a comment. If you hate it, still leave a comment. Have a great week guys!**

* * *

Chapter 3

Eugene- er, Flynn Rider was having a pretty spectacular morning, if he could say so himself.

Not only had he successfully stolen the crown from the castle's throne room, but the sunrise had been absolutely stunning! Its' rays had torn through the night sky, cracking its black overlay and allowing the sun a proper entrance into the new day. Slowly the world began to show shades of oranges and pinks and yellows that were so vibrant and spectacular that Flynn's breath was taken away.

His breath was taken away once again when he was running away from the castle guards at full speed and with full confidence that he would get away from them. That was his crown now and it would be his until he found a buyer for it. Then it would be his money. Then it would become his island. Then he would sit on his island and watch the sunrise every morning and appreciate the colors that he so adored.

A small part of him felt some guilt though as felt the crown-filled satchel knock into his side. That was the princess's crown.

The princess.

His _soulmate_.

He literally just stole his soulmate's crown.

 _Does that make me a terrible person?_ He asked himself.

 _Nah_ , he reasoned, _wherever she is she probably doesn't even remember her crown or that she is a princess. She's probably dead_.

He shivered at the thought and shook his head. He knew for a fact that she was not dead because, if she was dead, he would have stopped seeing color the moment she died. That was the issue with soulmates: if they die, a little piece of their soulmate does too. It was not fair, not fair at all.

But none of that mattered to Flynn. No one, not even the best hunters in the kingdom had been able to find the princess, so the chances of Flynn ever meeting her again were almost nonexistent. Not that he cared. Colors did not matter to Flynn Rider.

However, they did matter to Eugene Fitzherbert…

At the moment though colors meant nothing to anyone, just Flynn needed to get away from the guards as quickly as possible, because if he did not neither Flynn nor his soulmate would be seeing colors anymore.

…

Rapunzel really liked colors.

For as long as she could remember, her life had always been vibrant. The tower walls had been a very plain color, so Rapunzel decided to fix it by painting them with everything her mind could create. It was not long before every inch of the tower showed Rapunzel's passion, with every wall covered with imagery of adventures she had never had.

It is worth noting though that Rapunzel had no idea what colors were. To her, that was just how the world looked.

On the day before her eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel found herself mildly bored with her daily routine. She had been doing these activities nearly every day for as long as she could remember. And she loved her routine! She would not have continued doing it if she did not love it.

But that day…she found herself wanting more.

"I like it in here and so do you," she had told Pascal that morning.

Did she mean it though?

She was turning eighteen the next day and she- more than anything- wanted to go on a real adventure. An adventure to see the floating lights.

Rapunzel had been an obedient child all of her life, she had always done what she was told the first time she was told (and sometimes even before she was told). She had never asked for anything that required too much effort because she did not want to inconvenience her mother. She felt it was a reasonable to ask to leave the tower.

Mother was not going to be home till later in the day, giving Rapunzel enough time to work up the courage to ask. It was all she could think about as she went about her daily activities. When she found herself out of stuff to do, she decided to paint a mural over the fireplace of her _seeing_ the lanterns (maybe this would inspire her mother to say yes). Yes, it most definitely would. There was no way she could say no!

"Rapunzel!" Her mother called from below the tower. "Let down your hair!"

Feeling her courage swell, Rapunzel sprinted towards the window and through down her hair and pulled her mother up. "Hi!" She greeted. "Welcome home Mother!"

"Oh Rapunzel, how you manage to do that every single day without fail, it looks absolutely exhausting darling," her mother said as she set down her things.

 _She is in a great mood!_ Rapunzel thought excitedly. "Oh it's nothing," she responded.

"Then I don't know why it takes so long," her mother laughed somewhat maliciously.

Rapunzel felt her courage begin to shrink.

"I'm just teasing," her mother continued. "Stop taking everything so seriously!"

 _Yah, Rapunzel_ , she thought to herself. Her mother was clearly joking and therefore in a good mood. Now was the perfect time to bring it up!

She took a deep breathe, summoning all of her courage as she did so. "Mother as you know tomorrow is a very big d-"

"Rapunzel, mother is feeling a bit run down," her mother interrupted. "Would you sing for me? Then we'll talk."

"Of course mother!" Rapunzel replied, trying to sound eager. She just needed to keep her mother in good spirits…but Rapunzel was also getting a little impatient.

Which is why she sang her song at three times the speed she usually sang it.

"Rapunz-"

"So mother, earlier I was saying tomorrow's a pretty big day and you didn't really respond, so I'm just gonna tell you, it's my birthday! Uh. Tada!" She spit the words at so fast that even _she_ was not even sure what she said.

Her mother sat there for a moment before shaking her head. "No, no, no, can't be. I distinctly remember. Your birthday was last year."

"That's the funny thing about birthdays; they're kind of an annual thing," she pointed out.

 _You have her attention, now you just need to ask_.

Rapunzel sat down. "Mother I'm turning eighteen and I wanted to ask…" she paused a little as she felt her mother's judging eyes bore into her. Was she really doing this?

"What I really want for this birthday…" Rapunzel could feel her resolve disappearing. "Actually, what I've wanted for quite a few birthdays…" she mumbled.

"Okay, Rapunzel, please, stop with the mumbling. You know how I feel about the mumbling–blah-blah-blah-blah, it's very annoying, I'm just teasing, you're adorable, I love you so much, darling. Agh." And with that her mother was out of her seat and no longer paying attention to Rapunzel.

 _Well there goes that_ , Rapunzel thought to herself, deflated. She looked to Pascal for some moral support and the chameleon motioned for her to keep going. _At least one of us has courage._

 _"_ I want to see the floating lights!" Rapunzel blurted out.

Her mother froze for a moment. "What?"

 _Rephrase it. You've gotta sell this_. "Well I was hoping you would take me to see the floating lights." Rapunzel pulled back the curtain to show her painting of her seeing the lights.

Her mother squinted and looked a little confused. "You mean the stars." It was a statement more than a question.

 _Do the lights in this painting really look like stars?_ Rapunzel thought to herself. _Not the point._

Rapunzel threw her hair around one of the upper windows and opened it to allow the sun to shine on her star charts.

"I've charted stars and they're always constant," she explained as she motioned back to her other painting. "But these, they appear every year on my birthday and _only_ on my birthday…and I can't help but feel like they're meant for me."

She had her mother's undivided attention at this point and Rapunzel could practically see the lights now! This was going to work!

"I need to see them, mother. And not just from my window. In person," she admitted and then added softly, "I have to know what they are."

For the smallest second Rapunzel thought she had convinced her mother. She could feel the hope and the excitement building in her. Her dream was finally going to come true!

"You want to go outside?" Her mother asked. "Why Rapunzel." Her mother shut the window. "Look at you as fragile as a flower…"

Her mother had just started the second verse of her song when Rapunzel realized that her mother was not going to take her. She felt so foolish! Of course she was never going to leave this tower! It was too dangerous outside. Too many chances to get hurt. Too many bad things could happen….and Rapunzel clearly was not strong enough to handle any of it.

"Don't ever ask to leave this tower again," her mother made her promise before her mother left her in the tower once again.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Hello beautiful readers! Long time, no read. I am so sorry this took so long and I hate to say that the next update may take even longer.

"Sarahleigh, how is that even possible?" You may be asking yourselves.

"Well kids," I begin, "tomorrow I am starting my last year of college and I work two jobs. Time is not on my side."

I will definitely do my best because I think you guys deserve more consistent updates, but no promises. Anyways, this chapter is on the shorter side because I am having a lot of issues writing the interrogation scene (writing advice accepted). Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story! You guys are incredible. As always, leave a review telling me what you like and don't like.

Blessings to you all,

S.F.

* * *

He ripped through the forest with blindingly fast speed and ridiculous amounts of confidence. He had ditched the Stabbington Brothers successfully and- if his assumptions were correct- they were probably being arrested at that very moment, multiplying Flynn's chances of success infinitely.

 _I should probably feel bad,_ he thought to himself. _But also…I want a castle._

Needless to say, morality was not his strong suit.

As he continued running, he began to picture what his castle would look like. Would the outside be made of stone or polished marble? How many rooms would there be? 100? 200? Would he travel all over the world to find art and tapestries for it or would he send someone to do it for him?

Eh, he would probably do it himself. It was hard to find people who could both see color and have good taste.

Just as Flynn was calculating the dimensions of his moat the guards appeared once again, crossbows loaded and ready, horses running at full speeds, and Flynn's unreasonably fast reflexes outwitting them all.

To his satisfaction, the guards were all taken out not long after they sprang upon him. He was feeling victorious until he saw that stupid horse was still after him. He hated the animal so much. The horse and he had had countless run-ins over the years and each time was becoming more and more challenging for Flynn. The horse was beginning to learn his tricks and strategies, prompting Flynn to keep learning new ways to outwit a horse.

 _Outwit a horse_ , he laughed to himself. _I'm probably the first thief ever to have to outwit a horse_.

As Flynn wrestled with the horse for his satchel, he could not help but think of the horse's fur. _White. Like the clouds._

…

Rapunzel stared at the clouds from her window, feeling completely defeated. What was she thinking? How could she ever leave the tower when she knew how dangerous it could be? Was she really going to risk her safety because she wanted to see some lights?

She should really be thanking her mother for her decision on the matter. She was only trying to protect her after all and how could Rapunzel penalize her for that?

Rapunzel started making lunch as Pascal went on about some wild adventure went on with his mom when he was a baby in the hopes of cheering her up. It was a mostly made up story but Pascal did not think Rapunzel would notice.

As Rapunzel contemplated whether or not to let Pascal know that she knew he was making up his story, a strange sound caught her attention. Pascal had heard it too and immediately stopped. The two friends shared a brief glance before they began investigating where the sound was coming from.

Cupboards? No.

Staircase? No.

Window?

Pascal peaked through the window and screamed. Rapunzel ran over and grabbed him, but did not look out the window.

"Pascal what is it?" She whispered.

"Someone is climbing the tower!" He squipped.

Rapunzel gasped. A person. Climbing her tower. Uninvited.

"He must know about my hair!" Rapunzel exclaimed in whisper. Pascal's eyes grew wide and he nodded in agreement. "We have to protect ourselves…but with what?"

Pascal scanned the room before finding the perfect weapon. "Frying pan," he stated.

Rapunzel only hesitated for a moment before she went over to grab the metal object and placed herself right by the window, ready to attack whoever was going to take her hair.

"Alone at last," the perpetrator sighed once he had made it into the tower.

CLANG!


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N** : Wow look at that. An update.

This chapter is brought to you by the fact that today is my 21st birthday (yeet!) and this is my birthday gift to myself. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before Halloween, but we will see what happens. This chapter does not really reflect the colors prompt, but I couldn't really weave that into this chapter without it feeling forced. Nevertheless, this chapter was super fun to write because I got to explore more of Rapunzel's inner monologue which I feel is something we don't get to see super often.

If you like it, comment. If you hate it, comment.

Thanks for reading, favoriting, and following. You guys truly make my day :)

Blessings to you all,

S.F.

* * *

The frying pan resonated as it met the stranger's head, effectively knocking him out and sending his satchel across the room. Rapunzel ran behind her mannequin and was fully ready to use it as a shield. She pushed the mannequin towards the stranger's limp body, only coming out from behind it when she saw the man did not move.

Mother had told her stories of men. "If you give them an inch, they will take a mile," Mother often said (even though Rapunzel had no clue what it meant. How could someone go from taking one single inch to taking 63,360 inches? That seemed unrealistic).

The stories Mother had to tell were terrible and spoke of how awful and imposing men were. They had fangs, horrendous looking faces, superhuman strength, and were nearly invincible. Rapunzel was in all honesty afraid of men.

As she inspected the man however, she found him to be…kind of attractive. He looked surprisingly peaceful despite being knocked out by her frying pan. He did not even look that strong if she was being truthful. She had always imagined men as giants but he did not look giant at all.

"Check for fangs," Pascal had hummed, demonstrating fangs with his fingers.

Rapunzel took the handle of the frying pan to move his lips only to find normal, not sharp, teeth. Teeth like her's and her mother's. What?!

Rapunzel had never questioned the validity of the stories, but now- as she looked at the man that she had successfully taken down- she could not help but bring into question what her Mother had always told her.

Maybe.

 _Possibly._

Mother was wrong.

However when the man's eyes flew open, all of Rapunzel's confidence disappeared and she hit him once again with her frying pan. She stared down at him and decided that she could not leave him lying there on the floor because that seemed wrong.

Putting the man in a closet was the hardest thing Rapunzel had ever done.

She had charted stars. She had taught herself how to sew, play chess, paint, read and even cook. She could even use her hair to suspend herself from the ceiling. But stuffing a body in a closet was by far the most difficult thing ever.

After an innumerable amount of attempts, Rapunzel had successfully shoved the body in the closet. The amount of bruises and injuries that the man had sustained does not need to be mentioned.

Admittedly though Rapunzel was kind of proud of herself.

"Too weak to handle myself out there, huh Mother?" She laughed, twirling the frying pan. "Tell that to my frying pan- Ow!" She exclaimed as the frying pan hit her brow.

As she rubbed the spot she had hit her eyes drifted over to the man's bag where a bright object laid. She walked over and picked it up, inspecting it as she did so. She was not sure, but it looked like the jewelry her mother wore…but bigger?

It was really beautiful, with strong gold metal work and jewels that she had never seen before. How would she wear it though?

She put it on her wrist like a bracelet (her Mother's favorite piece of jewelry) but it seemed a little large. She looked to Pascal to see if he knew any better, but he just shook his head. It did not look like a necklace. Necklaces either slipped over the head or had an opening in the back. It definitely did not have an opening in the back, so she would try to slip it over her head.

It took her all of three seconds to realize that it was too small to go down to her neck, so it stayed sitting on her head. Instead of being frustrated though, Rapunzel paused. Seeing herself with this weird metal thing on her head seemed so…so…familiar?

 _It fits me perfectly_ , some part of her said. How would she know whether or not it fit though if she did not know what it was? Everything about this object seemed right. It made no sense. Pascal apparently agreed with her because he shook his head in disapproval.

"Rapunzel!" Her mother's voice rang. "Let down your hair!"

Excitement filling her, Rapunzel through the weird hat thing and satchel into a pot and ran towards the window. This was it. This was the moment her mother was going to agree with her. She was going to see the floating lights.

"I have a big surprise!" Mother announced as Rapunzel began to pull her up.

"Uh, I do too!"

"I bet my surprise is bigger!"

"I seriously doubt it," Rapunzel muttered to herself as she finished pulling her mother up.

"I brought back parsnips," her Mother smiled. "I'm going to make hazelnut soup for dinner. Your favorite. Surprise!"

"Well mother, is there something I want to tell yo-"

"Oh Rapunzel, you know I hate leaving you after a fight. Especially when I've done absolutely nothing wrong."

Ignoring the comment, Rapunzel plowed. "I've been thinking a lot about what you said earlier-"

"I hope you're not still talking about the stars."

She moved closer to the closet. "Floating lights, yes, I'm leading up to that."

"Because I really thought we'd dropped the issues sweetheart."

Closer. "No I'm just saying Mother, you think I'm not strong enough to handle myself out there-"

"Oh darling, I know you're not strong enough to handle yourself out there."

Hand on the chair. "But if you just-"

"Rapunzel we are done talking about this."

A few more seconds. "Trust me I know what I'm-"

"Rapunzel."

"Oh come on!"

 **"ENOUGH WITH THE LIGHTS RAPUNZEL. YOU ARE NOT LEAVING THIS TOWER. EVER!"**

Mother's voice echoed throughout the tower and in Rapunzel's head. Any hope Rapunzel had had vanished.

"Oh great," her Mother sighed, sitting down, "now I'm the bad guy."

Rapunzel was reeling from the exchange and she found herself wracking her brain to find a way out of this. Her Mother clearly was not going to help her. She was a lost cause, Rapunzel had done all she could.

But…there was also a man in her closet.

This was a long shot.

"All I was going to say," the words came before she could think, "is that I know what I want for my birthday."

Mother did not even look at her. "And what is that?" She asked wearily.

 _Yah, what is that Rapunzel?_ She asked herself. Something that would keep Mother away for days-

"New paint," she lied. "The paint made from the white shells you once brought me."

Her Mother sighed. "Well that is a very long trip, Rapunzel. Almost three days time."

 _That is kind of the point_ , Rapunzel thought. _Now I just need to make my point_.

"I just thought it was a better idea than the," she hesitated on purpose, "stars."

She stared at her Mother for what seemed like an eternity, waiting for any signs of her giving in. Finally Mother sighed and she got up from the chair and Rapunzel nearly squealed in delight.

"Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Mother asked as she walked towards Rapunzel.

 _More than you know._ "I know I'm safe as long as I'm here," she lied as her Mother embraced her.

Rapunzel could not get her Mother out of the tower fast enough. She quickly set to packing Mother food while simultaneously trying not to look suspicious. She was making idle small talk and Mother did not seem to be the wiser to any of it. It was working!

"I love you very much dear," her Mother said as she descended from the tower.

"I love you more."

Her mother smiled. "I love you most."

And when her mother disappeared from the clearing below, Rapunzel ran towards the closet and towards her chance to leave the tower.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N** : Uh hi everyone.

I know it's been a while (*cough* a year *cough*). A lot has happened since I last updated: I graduated college, started working three jobs, and got a cat. I am starting to get a hang of being an adult though which means I will be creating a writing schedule! I'm hoping to update once a month if not more often.

This chapter is brought to you by the fact that today is my 22nd birthday and this is my birthday gift to myself (the fact that the last time I updated was on my 21st birthday is totally coincidental. Totally). I know this update is short, I just wanted something out there so you guys knew I was alive and well. Thank you all for your patience!

If you like it, comment. If you hate it, comment.

Thanks for reading, favoriting, and following. You guys truly make my day :)

Blessings to you all,

S.F.

* * *

Flynn was having the best nap he had ever had- which was _really_ saying something.

Until something wet went into his ear.

His scream tore through the air as he was ripped from his peaceful requiem and thrust back into the real world.

Flynn's eyes burst open and he was nearly blinded by the vibrancy of the room. Everywhere he looked he saw color, and not just regular, safe colors. Oh no. Whoever contributed to this did not fear colors or the people who had yet to see them.

Flynn had been to (read: stole from) many art museums all over the continent. Most of the paintings were nice, some breathtaking, and a few that were just plain weird. Each one had had nice color schemes that were mostly complimentary to whatever the artist was going for, but overall the colors were bland. Paintings of landscapes or fruit always paled in comparison to their real life counterpart because artists had to make sure people who could not see color could enjoy the painting too.

This artist clearly did not care and Flynn somehow could not pull his eyes from the walls. It was beautiful, plain and simple. Every piece of art he had ever seen had never even come close to what he seeing. He tried to get a closer look but found he could not move.

Uh-oh.

He was restrained. He could handle being restrained. He had escaped the guards enough times to know how to get out of this. He pulled on the ropes…but wait those were not…

"Is this," he struggled, "hair?!"

"Struggling- struggling is pointless," a voice attempted to command. "I know why you're here and I'm not afraid of you."

Flynn gazed at the shadowy area of the room, half expecting to see a large thug looming in the darkness. Imagine his surprise when a small girl walked into the light.

Forget the paintings around the room or around the world, she had to have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Golden hair, button nose, petite body, and large, green doe-like eyes took his breathe away. There was something extremely familiar about those eyes…

"Who are you and how did you find me?" She asked, her tone commanding.

Flynn sat there slack-jawed. He was still too stunned to procure words.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" She demanded.

 _Get it together, Rider._ He cleared his head. "I know not who you are, nor how I came to find you, but may I just say," he put on his most charming smile, "hi. How you doing? The name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going?"

For the record, Rapunzel knew she did not have this situation totally under control. Sure, he was tied up and his satchel was hidden, but she really had not expected him to talk. And even if he did talk, she surely did not expect him to talk like that. He was very strange.

"Who else knows my location, Flynn Rider?" Rapunzel aimed her frying pan closer to him.

"Alright Blondie-"

" _Rapunzel_."

"Gesundheit. Here's the thing. I was situation, gallivanting through the forest, I came across your tower and- oh! Oh no! Where is my satchel?!"

 _We got him_ , Rapunzel thought triumphantly. "I've hidden it. Somewhere you'll never find it."

Flynn took one sweep around the room. "It's in that pot isn't it?"

 _Clang_!

Flynn was out before the frying pan stopped ringing.

"Alright Pascual," Rapunzel sighed, "we need a better hiding spot."


End file.
